The Best and Worst Cities to Work for 2011

Whether or not you achieve CareerBliss depends on several factors. We took a look at our employee happiness data to see how workers in cities across the U.S. compare when it comes to things like compensation, job security and work-life balance. Check out the results below. Scores are on a scale of 1 to 5.

Rank

Metro Area

Benefits

Career Advancement

Compensation

Growth Opportunity

Job Security

Recommend to Others

Senior Management

Work-life Balance

Index Score

Avg Salary

1

San Jose,CA

3.62

3.35

3.59

3.57

3.13

3.53

3.49

3.61

3.54

$82,635.58

2

San Francisco,CA

3.54

3.27

3.49

3.48

3.13

3.46

3.44

3.56

3.47

$74,745.13

3

Jacksonville,FL

3.42

3.25

3.38

3.47

3.26

3.50

3.42

3.56

3.45

$55,532.67

4

Miami,FL

3.48

3.20

3.47

3.44

3.10

3.45

3.41

3.57

3.45

$58,039.72

5

Washington,DC

3.53

3.22

3.45

3.44

3.19

3.47

3.43

3.53

3.45

$73,708.26

6

Memphis,TN

3.43

3.21

3.44

3.46

3.24

3.49

3.43

3.50

3.44

$51,351.97

7

El Paso,TX

3.45

3.26

3.40

3.47

3.24

3.50

3.43

3.47

3.43

$57,051.41

8

Los Angeles,CA

3.45

3.21

3.44

3.44

3.05

3.42

3.42

3.55

3.43

$63,409.59

9

San Diego,CA

3.46

3.20

3.42

3.44

3.08

3.42

3.40

3.52

3.42

$64,984.62

10

Birmingham,AL

3.47

3.13

3.38

3.40

3.14

3.46

3.42

3.51

3.42

$58,839.84

11

Seattle,WA

3.47

3.22

3.43

3.42

3.07

3.43

3.42

3.52

3.41

$68,265.30

12

Houston,TX

3.41

3.18

3.40

3.40

3.11

3.42

3.43

3.48

3.40

$65,594.95

13

New Orleans,LA

3.37

3.18

3.33

3.40

3.23

3.40

3.46

3.56

3.40

$47,708.15

14

New York,NY

3.44

3.14

3.41

3.39

3.09

3.40

3.36

3.50

3.39

$69,458.92

15

Minneapolis,MN

3.37

3.15

3.37

3.41

3.12

3.44

3.36

3.51

3.39

$63,325.03

16

Fresno,CA

3.29

3.14

3.36

3.43

3.10

3.44

3.41

3.58

3.39

$49,671.44

17

Atlanta,GA

3.44

3.15

3.42

3.40

3.01

3.38

3.39

3.50

3.39

$61,781.54

18

Des Moines,IA

3.30

3.22

3.32

3.38

3.10

3.45

3.48

3.54

3.38

$57,647.63

19

Louisville,KY

3.45

3.13

3.42

3.38

3.05

3.38

3.32

3.46

3.38

$55,766.68

20

Orlando,FL

3.40

3.13

3.36

3.37

3.03

3.38

3.38

3.52

3.38

$59,121.11

21

Boston,MA

3.42

3.16

3.41

3.36

3.03

3.37

3.39

3.52

3.38

$68,108.78

22

San Antonio,TX

3.40

3.17

3.36

3.42

3.13

3.43

3.41

3.48

3.38

$55,904.77

23

Detroit,MI

3.43

3.13

3.43

3.36

2.95

3.39

3.40

3.50

3.38

$61,932.80

24

Chicago,IL

3.43

3.13

3.40

3.37

3.02

3.37

3.36

3.49

3.37

$61,756.95

25

Charlotte,NC

3.42

3.12

3.39

3.38

3.04

3.38

3.35

3.49

3.37

$61,596.73

26

Hartford,CT

3.36

3.12

3.38

3.36

3.11

3.41

3.39

3.50

3.37

$61,940.56

27

Dallas,TX

3.44

3.16

3.43

3.38

2.98

3.39

3.35

3.46

3.37

$67,020.37

28

Sacramento,CA

3.40

3.19

3.38

3.37

3.06

3.35

3.41

3.49

3.36

$60,355.41

29

Philadelphia,PA

3.37

3.14

3.36

3.36

3.05

3.38

3.37

3.49

3.36

$63,163.15

30

Saint Louis,MO

3.40

3.10

3.37

3.33

3.03

3.34

3.39

3.48

3.36

$56,954.19

31

Oklahoma City,OK

3.41

3.15

3.36

3.38

3.27

3.38

3.43

3.40

3.36

$54,838.10

32

Austin,TX

3.43

3.15

3.37

3.35

2.96

3.34

3.37

3.49

3.35

$66,840.32

33

Phoenix,AZ

3.38

3.14

3.37

3.35

2.94

3.34

3.31

3.46

3.34

$58,816.98

34

Kansas City,MO

3.40

3.13

3.37

3.32

3.03

3.33

3.31

3.45

3.34

$57,373.67

35

Tulsa,OK

3.31

3.10

3.32

3.33

3.03

3.35

3.36

3.49

3.33

$57,067.57

36

Baltimore,MD

3.36

3.09

3.30

3.32

3.08

3.32

3.36

3.46

3.32

$60,805.70

37

Fort Worth,TX

3.28

3.02

3.31

3.30

3.08

3.33

3.32

3.47

3.32

$61,830.25

38

Cincinnati,OH

3.38

3.06

3.37

3.30

2.98

3.31

3.34

3.42

3.31

$59,174.10

39

Denver,CO

3.37

3.08

3.34

3.30

3.01

3.29

3.28

3.46

3.31

$67,898.85

40

Las Vegas,NV

3.34

3.04

3.39

3.30

2.96

3.28

3.27

3.41

3.31

$56,987.10

41

Tampa,FL

3.30

3.03

3.36

3.29

3.00

3.31

3.34

3.42

3.30

$60,387.36

42

Portland,OR

3.31

3.01

3.33

3.31

2.87

3.32

3.23

3.42

3.30

$64,325.36

43

Tucson,AZ

3.33

3.07

3.30

3.30

2.98

3.30

3.33

3.41

3.29

$53,208.15

44

Brooklyn,NY

3.27

3.09

3.31

3.28

3.02

3.28

3.27

3.46

3.29

$66,184.26

45

Salt Lake City,UT

3.25

3.04

3.32

3.32

2.94

3.31

3.30

3.49

3.29

$58,507.95

46

Pittsburgh,PA

3.32

3.02

3.30

3.25

3.02

3.29

3.29

3.42

3.28

$55,819.57

47

Cleveland,OH

3.34

3.07

3.29

3.24

2.95

3.28

3.31

3.43

3.28

$58,251.31

48

Omaha,NE

3.29

3.10

3.26

3.25

3.05

3.26

3.29

3.45

3.27

$54,934.18

49

Indianapolis,IN

3.30

3.04

3.30

3.24

2.92

3.23

3.28

3.37

3.25

$56,929.53

50

Saint Paul,MN

3.22

3.02

3.24

3.24

3.01

3.27

3.29

3.44

3.24

$61,780.48

The CareerBliss Team

CareerBliss cares about your career happiness. That's why we offer a variety of great tools and resources to help you make better-informed career decisions. We believe that if you're happier at work, you'll be happier in life! Check out company reviews, salary information, career advice and, of course, millions of jobs on CareerBliss and choose happy today!